US20020055307A1 - Magnetoresistive sensor with laminate electrical interconnect - Google Patents
Magnetoresistive sensor with laminate electrical interconnect Download PDFInfo
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- US20020055307A1 US20020055307A1 US09/981,765 US98176501A US2002055307A1 US 20020055307 A1 US20020055307 A1 US 20020055307A1 US 98176501 A US98176501 A US 98176501A US 2002055307 A1 US2002055307 A1 US 2002055307A1
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01F—MAGNETS; INDUCTANCES; TRANSFORMERS; SELECTION OF MATERIALS FOR THEIR MAGNETIC PROPERTIES
- H01F10/00—Thin magnetic films, e.g. of one-domain structure
- H01F10/32—Spin-exchange-coupled multilayers, e.g. nanostructured superlattices
- H01F10/324—Exchange coupling of magnetic film pairs via a very thin non-magnetic spacer, e.g. by exchange with conduction electrons of the spacer
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B82—NANOTECHNOLOGY
- B82Y—SPECIFIC USES OR APPLICATIONS OF NANOSTRUCTURES; MEASUREMENT OR ANALYSIS OF NANOSTRUCTURES; MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF NANOSTRUCTURES
- B82Y10/00—Nanotechnology for information processing, storage or transmission, e.g. quantum computing or single electron logic
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B82—NANOTECHNOLOGY
- B82Y—SPECIFIC USES OR APPLICATIONS OF NANOSTRUCTURES; MEASUREMENT OR ANALYSIS OF NANOSTRUCTURES; MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF NANOSTRUCTURES
- B82Y25/00—Nanomagnetism, e.g. magnetoimpedance, anisotropic magnetoresistance, giant magnetoresistance or tunneling magnetoresistance
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B82—NANOTECHNOLOGY
- B82Y—SPECIFIC USES OR APPLICATIONS OF NANOSTRUCTURES; MEASUREMENT OR ANALYSIS OF NANOSTRUCTURES; MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF NANOSTRUCTURES
- B82Y40/00—Manufacture or treatment of nanostructures
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01F—MAGNETS; INDUCTANCES; TRANSFORMERS; SELECTION OF MATERIALS FOR THEIR MAGNETIC PROPERTIES
- H01F41/00—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing or assembling magnets, inductances or transformers; Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing materials characterised by their magnetic properties
- H01F41/14—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing or assembling magnets, inductances or transformers; Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing materials characterised by their magnetic properties for applying magnetic films to substrates
- H01F41/30—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing or assembling magnets, inductances or transformers; Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing materials characterised by their magnetic properties for applying magnetic films to substrates for applying nanostructures, e.g. by molecular beam epitaxy [MBE]
- H01F41/302—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing or assembling magnets, inductances or transformers; Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing materials characterised by their magnetic properties for applying magnetic films to substrates for applying nanostructures, e.g. by molecular beam epitaxy [MBE] for applying spin-exchange-coupled multilayers, e.g. nanostructured superlattices
- H01F41/305—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing or assembling magnets, inductances or transformers; Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing materials characterised by their magnetic properties for applying magnetic films to substrates for applying nanostructures, e.g. by molecular beam epitaxy [MBE] for applying spin-exchange-coupled multilayers, e.g. nanostructured superlattices applying the spacer or adjusting its interface, e.g. in order to enable particular effect different from exchange coupling
- H01F41/307—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing or assembling magnets, inductances or transformers; Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing materials characterised by their magnetic properties for applying magnetic films to substrates for applying nanostructures, e.g. by molecular beam epitaxy [MBE] for applying spin-exchange-coupled multilayers, e.g. nanostructured superlattices applying the spacer or adjusting its interface, e.g. in order to enable particular effect different from exchange coupling insulating or semiconductive spacer
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01F—MAGNETS; INDUCTANCES; TRANSFORMERS; SELECTION OF MATERIALS FOR THEIR MAGNETIC PROPERTIES
- H01F41/00—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing or assembling magnets, inductances or transformers; Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing materials characterised by their magnetic properties
- H01F41/32—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing or assembling magnets, inductances or transformers; Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing materials characterised by their magnetic properties for applying conductive, insulating or magnetic material on a magnetic film, specially adapted for a thin magnetic film
- H01F41/325—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing or assembling magnets, inductances or transformers; Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing materials characterised by their magnetic properties for applying conductive, insulating or magnetic material on a magnetic film, specially adapted for a thin magnetic film applying a noble metal capping on a spin-exchange-coupled multilayer, e.g. spin filter deposition
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- G—PHYSICS
- G11—INFORMATION STORAGE
- G11B—INFORMATION STORAGE BASED ON RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN RECORD CARRIER AND TRANSDUCER
- G11B5/00—Recording by magnetisation or demagnetisation of a record carrier; Reproducing by magnetic means; Record carriers therefor
- G11B5/127—Structure or manufacture of heads, e.g. inductive
- G11B5/33—Structure or manufacture of flux-sensitive heads, i.e. for reproduction only; Combination of such heads with means for recording or erasing only
- G11B5/39—Structure or manufacture of flux-sensitive heads, i.e. for reproduction only; Combination of such heads with means for recording or erasing only using magneto-resistive devices or effects
- G11B5/3903—Structure or manufacture of flux-sensitive heads, i.e. for reproduction only; Combination of such heads with means for recording or erasing only using magneto-resistive devices or effects using magnetic thin film layers or their effects, the films being part of integrated structures
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- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
- Nanotechnology (AREA)
- Crystallography & Structural Chemistry (AREA)
- Power Engineering (AREA)
- Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Spectroscopy & Molecular Physics (AREA)
- Condensed Matter Physics & Semiconductors (AREA)
- General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Mathematical Physics (AREA)
- Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
- Hall/Mr Elements (AREA)
Abstract
Description
- The present application is based on and claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application Serial No. 60/247,664, filed Nov. 9, 2000, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
- The present invention relates to storage systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to magnetoresistive sensors used in such storage systems.
- Magnetic storage systems are used to store magnetically encoded information. There has been an ongoing desire in such storage systems to increase the storage density. Frequently, steps toward this goal are achieved by reducing the size of various components. One such component is the transducer which is used to read and write information onto a storage medium. During writing, the transducer impresses a magnetic field onto the storage medium, for example, using an inductive coil in an inductive head. During readback, the written field is sensed using, for example, a magnetoresistive sensor.
- In general, a decrease in the size of an electrical component causes an increase in the component's electrical resistance. This increased resistance causes attenuation of the signals which must be carried by or through the electrical components. Further, the increased resistance can cause electrical noise in small signals. As storage densities continue to increase, and the size of components continue to decrease, the increased resistance of the components is one of the limiting factors in the design and implementation of magnetic storage devices.
- The present invention addresses these problems and offers other advantages over the prior art.
- The present invention relates to electrical interconnects having reduced resistance thereby addressing the above-identified problem.
- An electrical interconnect is configured to provide an electrical connection between a first point and a second point. The interconnect includes a planar specular reflection layer and a planar conductor is positioned adjacent the planar specular reflection layer. The planar conductor is configured to conduct electrons between the first and second points and the planar specular reflection layer confines the electrons to the planar conductor through specular reflection. This reduces electrical resistance of the electrical interconnect measured in a direction parallel with the plane.
- FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a disc storage system including an electrical interconnect in accordance with the present invention.
- FIG. 2 is a side cross-sectional view of a laminated electrical interconnect in accordance with the present invention.
- FIG. 3 is a diagram which illustrates operation of the electrical interconnect of the present invention.
- FIG. 4A is a graph of sheet resistance (Ω/sq) versus number of layers n.
- FIG. 4B is a graph of effect resistivity versus conductor thickness.
- FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a spin valve using an electrical interconnect of the invention.
- Referring now to FIG. 1, a disc
drive storage system 100 with which the present invention is useful is shown.Disc drive 100 includes adisc pack 126 havingstorage surfaces 106. Thedisc pack 126 includes a stack of multiple discs and read/writehead assembly 112 includes a read/write transducer orhead 110 for each stacked disc.Disc pack 126 is spun or rotated as shown byarrow 107 to allow read/writehead assembly 112 to access different rotational locations for data on thestorage surfaces 106 on thedisc pack 126. - Read/write
head assembly 112 is actuated to move radially, relative to thedisc pack 126, as shown byarrow 122 to access different radial locations for data on thestorage surfaces 106 ofdisc pack 126. Typically, the actuation of read/writehead assembly 112 is provided by avoice coil motor 118.Voice coil motor 118 includes arotor 116 that pivots onaxle 120 and anarm 114 that actuates the read/writehead assembly 112.Disc drive 100 includeselectronic circuitry 130 for controlling the operation of thedisc drive 100 and transferring data in and out of the disc drive. - As data densities have increased, the size of the components of
disc drive 100 have decreased. In particular, the size of the transducer head ofdisc drive 100 has decreased in comparison with prior art designs. As is known in the art, smaller components have higher electrical resistances. This increased electrical resistance can reduce signal strength and introduce noise into the system. This problem is present in devices other than disc storage systems, and in one aspect the present invention is applicable to electrical interconnects used in any type of electrical device. - The present invention includes a laminated electrical interconnect such as
electrical interconnect 200 shown in cross-section in FIG. 2.Electrical interconnect 200 includesplanar conductor layers 202 separated by planarspecular reflection layers 204. In one aspect, the present invention includes one or more planar conductive layers adjacent to one or more planar specular reflection layers. At least one interface should be formed between a conductor layer and a specular reflection layer. Thelower conductor 202 is deposited onseed layer 206 orseed layers - The configuration illustrated in FIG. 2 provides an electrical interconnect between the sides of interconnect200 (i.e., in parallel with the planes defined by the layers) having a reduced electrical resistance in comparison to designs in which the conductive layers are either not separated, or are separated by layers which diffusely scatter electrons rather than specularly reflect electrons.
- FIG. 3 illustrates operation of the laminate structure of the invention. In FIG. 3,
electrons 210 move in a direction from point A to point B throughplanar conductor 202. Specularreflective layers 204form interfaces 212 withconductor layer 202. The reflection atinterfaces 212 effectively provide “mirrors” to theelectrons 210. The electrons “bounce” off theinterface 212 and continue with the same momentum in the direction toward point B. The reflective property of this interface is a function of the specularity of specularreflective layers 204. These layers can be viewed as providing a guide toelectrons 210 to guide the electrons from point A toward point B without losing momentum. - The resistivity is reduced in the
conductor 202 leading to longer mean free paths for theconduction electrons 210. Note that this configuration can provide improved thermal, chemical and mechanical reliability in the interconnect. Improved thermal properties can be realized in that the improved electrical conductivity of the conductor layer as a result of the enhanced specularity of the structure will also result in improved thermal conductivity of the same material as compared to the material with interfaces that scatter electrons diffusely. Improvement in chemical and mechanical reliability or properties of the interconnect can be realized by forming multilayer interconnect structures in comparison to single layer structure of the conductor layer. The mirroring effect atinterfaces 212 can also serve to confine the conduction electrons to theconductor layer 202. Although this specification and the following claims use the term “planar”, the actual components may not be planar on a macroscopic level. - Although any conductive material can be used for
conductor 202, in one specific example elemental Cu, Au, Ag, W or Rh is employed. Further, the specular reflection layers 204 can be any appropriate material having a desired specularity. However, specific examples include Y2O3, HfO2, MgO, Al2O3, NiO, Fe2O3, Fe304. Additionally, in some embodiments it may be desirable to provide a small amount of additional material to the conductor layers to provide other properties to the layers, for example, to improved thermal properties. An example of additional materials include Ti, Ta or Zr. - In experiments, the electrical resistivity of laminated interconnect structures have been found to be reduced when the laminate structure uses thin oxide layers which have high specular reflectivity. In one test, an interconnect was formed using a seed layer of Ta followed by a conductor layer of Au, a specular layer of Y2O3, a conductor of Au and a specular layer of Y2O3. Substantially lower sheet resistance and resistivity in comparison to structures having no laminate, or structures with non-specular laminates. A resistance decrease of 55% has been observed in some laminate structures as described here.
- FIG. 4A is a graph of sheet resistance versus number of layers for multilayer structures, of Au/Ta and Au/Y2O3. The sheet resistance of a seed/(Au a/Y2O3 15)n, and seed/(Au a/Ta 15)n series of samples where a=50, 100, 200 and 400 Angstrom and the product a*n is constrained to be 400 Angstrom for all data points. The laminate contact with the highly specular scattering layer (Y2O3) sheet resistance is significantly lower than laminate contact with the non specular scattering laminate layers (Ta laminate) for Au thickness below 400 Angstroms. The beneficial effect of the high specularity is enhanced when the Au thickness approaches and falls below the thickness of the electron mean free path length in the conductor layer, Au.
- FIG. 4B is a graph showing effective or relative resistivity versus thickness of the conductor layer. FIG. 4B illustrates that as the thickness of the conductor layer increases, the resistance of the interconnect approaches the bulk resistance of the material.
- FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a spin valve/
giant magnetoresistive sensor 250 which can be used, for example, in the disc drive system of FIG. 1.Sensor 250 includes alower gap layer 252 with aseed layer 254 deposited thereon. Aspin valve layer 256 is also deposited ongap 252 between twopermanent magnets 258. A laminatedelectrical interconnect 260 having specular reflective layers in accordance with the present invention is deposited onpermanent magnet 258 and configured to form an electrical contact with spin valve layer(s) 256. Atop gap layer 262 overlies the structure and provides an electrically isolating layer between thesensor 250 and the shield structure (this is not shown in the figure) As the size of the spin valve is decreased in order to accommodate recording densities, the size of theelectrical interconnects 260 is also reduced. However, using the laminate interconnect of the invention, the resistivity of theinterconnects 260 can be reduced. This can increase signal strength and reduce the noise present in readback signals. - In one aspect, a relationship is provided between the specularity of the specular reflection layer and the thickness of the conductor layer. For example, using the formalism developed by Fuchs in 1938 (see K. Fuchs,Proc. Cambridge Phil. Soc., 34, 100, (1938) and elaborated on by other investigators such as Sondheimer (see, E. H. Sondheimer, Advan. Phys., 1,1, (1951). The Fuchs-Sondheimer theory can be utilized to provide a characterization of the specular nature of the multilayer films described here. A conductor surface may scatter an electron in an admixture of both specular and diffuse contributions, with P being the fraction of surface scattering events that are specular. For purely diffuse scattering, P=0, and for purely specular scattering, P=1. For P=1, the film resistivity would be equal to the bulk resistivity irrespective of the film thickness. For specularity less than one, the resistivity of the film increases as thickness decreases below the electron mean free path for that material and temperature.
- An
electrical interconnect 200 is provided which provides an electrical connection between a first point (A) and a second point (B). First and second planar specular reflection layers 204 extend in respective first and second planes. The specularity (P) of these layers has been estimated to be more than about 0.6 as formed here. Aplanar conductor 202 is positioned between the first and second planar specular reflection layers. The planar conductor can have a thickness of less than about 1.5 to 2 times the electron mean free path for P=0.5 to 0.6 with a reduction in film resistivity observable. In general, the mean free path is the average distance an electron travels between collisions with other particles. For P>0.6, an improvement in film resistivity will be observable for thicker films. For P<0.5, the film thickness for observable reduction in resistivity will be nearer the electron mean free path length in the conductor material. The specular reflection layers 204 act to confineelectrons 210 to theplanar conductor layer 202 to thereby reduce the electrical resistance of theelectrical interconnect 200 when measured in a direction parallel with the planes of the specular reflection layers 204. In various aspects, the specular reflection layers can comprise oxides, the planar conductor can be selected from the group of conductors consisting of Cu, Au, Ag, W and Rh. The planar specular reflection layers can be selected from the group of specular reflection layers consisting of Y2O3, HfO2, MgO, Al2O3, NiO, Fe2O3 or Fe3O4. The conductor can be configured to have particular thermal properties, for example, through introducing Ti, Ta or Zr. Aspin valve 250 is also provided which includes anelectrical interconnect 260. The various layers can be deposited on a seed layer such as seed layers 206 or 208. Acap layer 262 can overlay the interconnect. Inspin valve 250, the electrical interconnect can be positioned proximate apermanent magnet 258 of the spin valve. Adisc storage system 100 is also provided which includesspin valve 250 having theelectrical interconnect 260 of the invention. In a method of making an electrical interconnect of the present invention, a first and second specular reflection layers 204 is deposited and a planar conductor is deposited therebetween. The electrical/specular multilayers can be single or multiple repeats of the structure. - It is to be understood that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of various embodiments of the invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of various embodiments of the invention, this disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of structure and arrangement of parts within the principles of the present invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed. For example, the particular elements may vary depending on the particular application for the electrical interconnect while maintaining substantially the same functionality without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention. In addition, although the preferred embodiment described herein is directed to a transducer for a magnetic system, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the teachings of the present invention can be applied to other systems, where electrical interconnects are used such as in integrated circuits or other small electrical components without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention. The invention can be used with sensors other than with spin valves as illustrated including top, bottom and dual spin valves. Further, other magnetic sensors such as AMR sensors, tunnel junctions, super lattice GMR sensors, etc. can utilize the invention. The conductor/contact structure can be used in other applications, for example with other types of magnetic sensors, other types of read heads, for environments other than discs, etc. The interconnect of the present invention can be used for any type of electrical interconnect including small solid state devices such as integrated circuits for both digital or analog circuitry. The specularity of the specular reflection layers can be more than 0.6, more than 0.5, or any appropriate value for a desired implementation. The thickness of the conductor layer can be less than 1.5 or less than 2 times the electron mean free path of the conductor material. However, other thicknesses can be used as appropriate for a desired implementation.
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Cited By (3)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US6693776B2 (en) * | 2001-03-08 | 2004-02-17 | Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.V. | Spin valve sensor with a spin filter and specular reflector layer |
DE10309244A1 (en) * | 2003-03-03 | 2004-09-23 | Siemens Ag | Thin film magnetic memory element has a tunnel barrier layer that is at least partially comprised of Yttrium oxide, arranged between ferromagnetic layers |
US20050099738A1 (en) * | 2003-11-06 | 2005-05-12 | Seagate Technology Llc | Magnetoresistive sensor having specular sidewall layers |
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